Essex roads are set to benefit from extra government money to target potholes and improve highway maintenance.

Essex County Council have pledged to use the share of a £200 million national pot to get extra crews out quickly in the new year.

Although the council's share of the vast fund is yet to be confirmed, residents are set to see six additional Essex Highways crews on the ground in January helping to improve the condition of our county’s roads.

“This additional money is very good news for road users in Essex," said Councillor Ian Grundy, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Highways.

“We have a good idea of roughly how much we will get, so we can move very quickly with our highways partner, Ringway Jacobs, to get extra crews out on our roads fixing potholes in January 2018.

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“They can use their workforce and partner firms to mobilise new crews and vehicles at speed so residents feel the benefit of this extra funding as soon as possible.”

Councillor Ian Grundy (Image: Gareth Morgan)

Highways crews have repaired more than 5,000 potholes since April 2017 as well as resurfacing more than 400 miles of road.

Workers also completed more than three million square metres of road surfacing over the summer to help reduce the number of potholes developing on key routes.

"This money is timely and our rapid response will help deal with the extra potholes that often appear at this time of year as water gets into small cracks, freezes, expands and damages road surfaces," Cllr Grundy added.

As well as crews dedicated to fixing potholes, other crews carry out resurfacing, streetlight repairs and replacements, safety improvements,and emergency repairs.